//------------------------------// // 1 - Captured and Questioned // Story: Daring Do and the Serpent Citadel // by Revenant Wings //------------------------------// Daring Do awoke on a hard surface in a cold room. She felt like she had been whacked over the head but without any of the pain; she ached all over and felt dizzy. Daring opened her eyes but everything was blurry. Her vision was filled with orange with a single blur of brown in the middle of it facing sideways. It took her a moment to realize she was still lying down on the floor and rubbed her eyes to try and clear her vision before forcing herself to get up. She was in a small room that contained a small stone bed, a rough wooden table, and a small stool that could barely be counted as a seat. To one corner of the room was an open doorway that led to a small sort of bathroom, with a hole for a toilet and a small pump spigot for water. The brown blur she was looking at before was another wood door, but it had no handle. It didn’t take Daring Do long to realize she might have been captured and placed in prison. She searched the holding area for a way out, but found nothing except the door with no handle. She tapped against the door and found it was thick, too thick to break with her hooves. She tried pushing, pulling, and even lifting the door, but nothing moved it. She had one object of solace: her sleeping bag and saddlebags were there with her, including the books inside of them and almost everything else. But even that was soon tainted, as she realized someone had gone through her belongings, and her hatchet, stick, and flint and steel for fires were missing. Whoever had captured her had clearly taken pains to make sure she couldn’t leave. Without the hatchet or the flint and steel, she couldn’t break down the door without risking serious injury to herself. The piping in the toilet hole was too small, and the bed might as well have been carved out of the orange stone walls. The table and the seat were themselves risky; she couldn’t use them for anything, and if she did she would risk splintering herself. Daring silently contemplated what to do. Her story was simple enough: she was an archaeologist going to look at nearby ruins. Her equipment was standard for adventuring into the wilds, used for camping and defending oneself from wild creatures. Daring was a good fighter, but she was not trained nor had any true weaponry - the hatchet was small and flimsy and only used for cutting wood - and she could probably construct a reasonable white lie from that. Daring heard a few sets of hoofsteps and realized they were coming closer to her holding area. She prepared herself to calmly confront her captors, only resorting to a fight if absolutely necessary. Daring heard the clunking of wood on the other side of the door and heard the grating of wood against stone. The door slid to the side and revealed two dark grey unicorns dressed in jade green armor with two yellow dots on their chest plate that looked like eyespots. One was rotating a crankshaft that seemed to be unlocked by a large wooden peg, while the other had a leather belt with buckle in his magic. Daring noticed that their pupils looked slightly dilated. “We are to take you to our Prince,” one of the guards said, the one holding the buckle. Daring remembered her manners, especially considering that these ponies looked well equipped should a fight break out. “Alright….sure,” she said, started making her way towards the guard at the door. The guard placed a hoof out and gently bumped Daring back into the room. “You are a pegasus, and deemed a security risk. You must be restrained before leaving.” Daring quite nearly fought against it, but let out nothing more than a growl. “Alright. Get it over with,” she grumbled. She had no choice but to go along with it. Besides, she knew how to take care of herself without her wings. The guard holding the leather belt stepped forwards; the one holding the crankshaft took his place and Daring could now see him holding a spear at his side. The guard at the crankshaft manned the door while the one took the belt with buckle and wrapped it around Daring’s midsection, making sure that both wings were wrapped in the belt before firmly buckling it around Daring’s back. The guard finished and stepped back. “You are comfortable?” Daring tried opening her wings. The leather was supple but firm, bending and flexing but immovable and unbreakable. It was buckled so it didn’t feel like her wings were pressing against her, but she couldn’t spread them out and slip through or fly away. “No…” she said, wishing they would just let her go. “Let me restate: you are not hurt by this?” Daring Do was caught off-guard. The unicorn immediately dodged the answer, found the loophole, and fixed his question so that Daring couldn’t weasel out of the belt. “No,” she said again. The guard nodded. “Follow me.” The guard turned around and walked out of the room. Daring noticed he held the buckle in his magic; Daring felt nothing but he could easily jerk her back if she tried to run away. He stopped outside the room and they waited while the guard manning the crankshaft released the peg. The door automatically shut with a noticeable bang and Daring realized the crankshaft merely held the heavy door in place. Daring was led down the hall and around the corner, then halfway down that hallway before taking a left and coming into a lobby area. More guards sat here, and the guard with the wooden peg went off to the side and went to another guard with black armor. “The prisoner in cell 28 is being taken to the Prince,” the jade-armored guard said officially. “Very good,” the black-armored guard said. “Carry on; he does not like to be kept waiting.” Daring was led outside and into another hallway that looked like a sort of large avenue, with gardens placed in the center every few yards and a fountain at an intersection. Doors on either side numbered with gold paint and official signs – Daring passed two buildings labeled “Office of the Treasury” and “Office of Education and Theology”. Lanterns and oil lamps burned brightly to provide light and gave the whole building an orange glow. “So… you guys ever get out much?” Daring Do asked. The guard whacked Daring’s underside with the spear. “No questions.” “Ow…” Daring winced but spoke no further. The guard led Daring down the avenue and took a left once they came to the fountain. The avenue continued for a short while before coming to a large set of stairs that rose to a massive colonnade that stretched almost as long as the avenue that Daring had just walked down, looking out over the area that Daring was now walking through. Daring’s archeological instincts went into overdrive. She wanted to know as much as she could about this place; how it looked like an entire city district was inside a single building, how long it took to carve it from the stone and construct the place, how big was it, how long it had been there, how had nopony ever talked about it before. She got her first inkling of the last question the closer she got to the colonnade. Daring ascended the steps with the guard in the lead. Above the colonnade was an elaborate carving with pictures and designs Daring could not see. She squinted her eyes to try and get a better look, but in her focus she tripped over something and fell down on the floor. “Oof!” She hit her head and her jaw and felt somewhat rattled by the fall, but quickly got to her feet. “I’m sorry, I didn’t see yoOOH MY CELESTIA…” She had tripped over a massive snake tail; the coil half as thick as her foreleg was tall. The tail was long and warm orange with darker purple spots like a garishly-colored rock python, and yet it belonged to something whose torso looked like a pony, with a stallion’s head and hooves. It had an orange coat and a purple mane that reached to and rested on its shoulders and slitted but friendly-looking sky blue eyes. “I apologize, Mister Dreamweaver, sir,” the guard said, saluting. Daring was frozen with surprise and did not move. The pony/snake-thing laughed pleasantly. “That’s quite alright, Verdant Shield,” it said, the mildest hint of a sibilance in its calm voice. “I’m afraid I wasn’t watching where I was going either. You are excused.” The guard stopped saluting and bowed. “Thank you, sir. Is the Prince in his audience chambers?” “Yes, he is. I believe he is waiting for you. Now, if you excuse me, I have some business to attend to, though he did want me to visit you at the station in about an hour or so.” “Of course. It is an honor.” The guard bowed again. “Should I let the Captain know?” “I should think so.” The pony-snake thing turned to Daring Do with a slight smile and an interested look as though he just noticed she was standing there. Daring attempted to speak, to ask him exactly what he was, but nothing more came out than a squeak. “Going to speak to the Prince?” the pony-snake thing said. “Don’t worry; he’s rather a pleasant individual. You should be fine.” Then he turned around and slithered away in a vague S-shape. This only left Daring even more shocked as she watched his length of tail just keep coming and coming and coming out from the doorway under the colonnade. She guessed his tail alone might have been twenty-five or even thirty feet, certainly enough to coil around her three or four times without blinking an eye and still have some left over. Daring was brought back by the guard tugging at the buckle. “Come on,” he said impatiently. “The Prince is waiting.” “…what the heck was that?” “No questions!” The guard whacked Daring on the underside again. “Geez… you don’t have to hit so hard…” Daring muttered, but she followed without further complaint. The guard led Daring through the colonnade and through a set of double doors into a large hallway with elaborate carvings on both sides, and a rather large throne at the opposite end. Daring passed by numerous columns and walked on an extravagant carpet of green and gold towards the other end of the hall as she and the guard approached the throne. Sitting at either side of the throne were three guards in jade armor decked out in emeralds and sapphires and rubies around the collars, with a pair of golden eyespots on either side of their helmets. The throne was gilded and had a rather large, soft-looking deep red pillow on it and more jewels embedded into the gold, and looked rather like a large couch with a raised end; Daring thought it looked remarkably like a therapist’s couch, but rather more luxurious. It sat on a raised platform with four steps leading up to it and was clearly meant to dominate the room so that whoever sat on it could see whatever they wanted. Reclining on the raised-end of throne was yet another snake-pony thing. This one had a green pony body with a faded pink mane and slitted lavender eyes, with a small golden crown atop his head. The snake body, coiled up on the pillow, had a rather plain pale green underbelly but the top was covered in iridescent black scales that flickered and shimmered in all the colors of the rainbow whenever it shifted. And if Daring had been surprised by the size of the other pony-snake thing, this one topped that; his coils not only lay upon the throne, but were draped over it, coiled around it, and the tail even curled back around towards his head, so that Daring had no idea how large he was. “Prince Serpis!” the guard said as they approached the throne. “I have brought the prisoner we captured last night!” At least it hadn’t been that long. Daring quite nearly sighed with relief, but realized that, with Ravenhoof gone from Tegucigallopa, no one knew where she was nor how long she was or would be gone. Even so, there was the sense of relief that she hadn’t been knocked out for days. The snake-pony thing, who had been looking at his guards, lazily brought them around to face the guard and Daring Do. “Excellent,” he said, his voice deeper but slightly rougher than the other one Daring had seen outside the colonnade. “You may return to your post; you are no longer needed.” The guard left Daring, who felt him release the magic from the buckle on the belt, and heard him walk away. But Daring was left staring and gaping at the giant snake-pony thing and didn’t even try to follow him out. She was caught somewhere between surprise at the fact such a thing existed, fear at the size and seeming strength of the creature, and fascination at the iridescent black scales. I need to apologize for Ravenhoof for scoffing at the idea of ‘monsters’, Daring Do thought as she gazed upon the “prince”. The snake-pony thing looked down at Daring and chuckled. “Ah-ha-ha, so the small one is rightly in awe of me and who I am. Tell me, little pony, do you know who I am?” Daring realized the question required a response, and gave the best one she could. “Well, I heard you referred to as a ‘prince’. But I didn’t know there was a prince out here, much less one such as yourself.” The snake-pony thing laughed again. “You are correct: I am a prince. My name is Prince Serpis, and I am the ruler of the fine city of Viboran. We are but a small city, though more and more travel here every day. We shall soon be as large as the pony cities themselves, and perhaps in time become prominent among the Tenochtitlan basin.” “Huh,” Daring said. “I’ve never heard of Viboran anywhere.” The snake-pony thing smiled confidently. “That’s because we are but a new city in these wild lands. I merely came into power twelve years ago, a strong and powerful and steady leader for this fledgling city. And my kind can live one hundred and fifty years or more, twice as long as you ponies, so that means such leadership is plentiful and always at hoof. In time, we shall become strong like you, perhaps stronger since we are native to these lands.” “So, what exactly are you? I’ve travelled around quite a bit, but I’ve never seen anything like the likes of you,” Daring asked, trying to hide the wonder in her voice. Prince Serpis smiled and flipped his mane proudly. “I should think not. But to answer your question: I am a lamia, containing the brain and smarts of a pony, but the body and physical prowess and grace of a snake. There are also a few special powers that I have that normal ponies such as yourself do not have.” “And what would those be?” “Suffice it to say you will learn about them in time. But first, I need to ask you a few questions. I believe you owe them to me.” Prince Serpis rose from his throne and began to slither down the steps until his massive body was close to Daring’s. His coils were definitely as thick as her foreleg was tall, and his length was absolutely massive with some of the coils still resting on the throne as his head and tail came towards her. “Stay still, little pony,” Prince Serpis said somewhat venomously. “I’d rather not hurt you when we’re just getting to know one another.” Daring already wasn’t moving very far, but she stayed completely still as the iridescent black tail slithered over to her and began to wrap itself around her midsection. In three wraps her whole body except her back legs and head were completely bound in a soft and smooth but extremely powerful grip. Daring already couldn’t fly with the belt around her waist, but now she felt like she was on a very exacting leash and certainly wasn’t going anywhere fast. Prince Serpis, satisfied with his work, pulled Daring back over to the throne, though set her down on the step below him than bringing her up to his level. Prince Serpis himself took his pony body back to his throne, doing a graceful flip while simultaneously recoiling himself up on the pillow before reclining back to his former position. He used a single hoof and motioned for a guard to bring over a torch, setting it on a special platform behind the throne. “You’re tense,” he said to Daring Do. She was, that much was true. But it was worse after he mentioned it. There was something in the voice that Daring did not like one bit. It was the feel of being much too calm, like a predator that had spotted his prey and had it cornered. Daring found herself wiggling to try and ease out of the coils, but Prince Serpis held her tightly and she couldn’t move or relax his grip on her. It wasn’t strangulation, but it felt uncomfortable all the same. Prince Serpis pulled a little more of his tail around Daring and grabbed her head so that she wasn’t wiggling as much as before and focused it in his direction. He smiled, looking like he rather enjoyed seeing Daring, now grimacing and kicking slightly, in his coils. He shifted his coils around. “Relaxsss, little pony, and tell me your name.” Daring stopped wiggling. She remembered her attempts to get out, cleared her throat as best as she could – it felt like it was dry – and started speaking. “I’m Daring Do. I’m an archaeologist.” “Good. That wasn’t so hard, wassss it?” Prince Serpis shifted his coils again, making rainbows of iridescence race along their curving length. “If you just relaxsss, this whole thing will go so much easier, you agree?” The lamia’s voice was still full of authority, but it no longer sounded predatory to Daring. Now it was simply filled with an almost infectious calm. “O-Of course,” Daring replied. “I knew you’d ssssee things in time.” The iridescent black scales shifted again, further dazzling Daring with their shifting beauty. “Just watch my scalessss and relaxsss… watch the lightssss flicker and fill them with color. And while you relaxsss, tell me, what were you doing in these junglessss, Daring Do?” The scales… with every shifting movement, the scales suddenly erupted in color. Daring had never seen anything like it. She stopped trying to move around entirely, her eyes trained on the scales. “I… I was searching for a statue.” “Who for?” Daring nearly told him, but remembered the conflicts Ravenhoof told her about. Ponies disappearing, getting captured, raids on Tegucigallopa… “I-I… I don’t…” “Relaxsss, Daring Do,” the Prince commanded, barely raising his voice. “Watch the shifting scalessss… Let yourself relaxssss as you watch the dancing huessss, let yourself become entranced by the vibrant colorssss…” Daring’s body felt like it was going limp in the grip of the lamia. It frightened her but she couldn’t act on it. The lamia’s hiss sent shivers down her spine and the colors on the constantly moving coils made her feel dizzy, watching them race along the twisting and twirling scales made her feel… relaxed. Her eyes drooped a little. “Good... very good… focussss on the colorssss, and tell me: who wanted that statue?” I shouldn’t tell him, Daring thought. I shouldn’t tell him… “A… Aguas Azules…” Prince Serpis’ eyes narrowed and he bared his teeth, but Daring hardly noticed, too focused on the scales. “And why did Aguas Azules want this statue?” Daring didn’t notice his eyes, but she did hear the venomous feel return to the lamia’s voice and felt the coils tighten around her, causing her eyes to pop open in surprise. She opened her mouth but froze in fear, even though the angered voice told her to speak, even though the dancing colors told her to relax, and even though the gracefully shifting scales reassured and calmed her. “Relaxsss, Ms. Do, and tell me…” The edge was off of Prince Serpis’ voice, but Daring could still hear it hidden away. “Listen to my voice, keep your eyessss on the mesmerizing colorssss…” She couldn’t hold out and fight against it. “It… it was the statue of Quetzalcoatl. They… they wanted it… as a historical treasure.” Prince Serpis’ eyes widened and he grew another confident smile on his face. “Excellent. Thank you for your information. Now… I want you to remember thissss: whenever we sssspeak, you will listen and listen closely to whatever I ssssay. Your mind will focussss on me, and not a word will escape your earssss. Do you understand?” The Prince’s voice seemed to slither into her ear and wrap firmly around her mind. The shifting scales and dancing colors told her all was well with this, the relaxed grip on her body told her she no longer had to be afraid, to accept this. It was difficult to hold back a yawn. “Y-Yes… I understand.” “Very good.” Slowly, excruciatingly, Daring Do was lowered onto the floor at the base of the pedestal and Prince Serpis unwrapped his coils from around her. She felt dizzy and tired, but as soon as the last coil left her, the urge to sleep left her and she merely felt worn out. She lay on the floor for a long while, breathing deeply and trying to regain her energy. “Take the belt off from her wings,” Prince Serpis commanded. One of the guards immediately stepped forwards and unbuckled the belt that bound Daring’s wings to her sides. Daring immediately stretched them out and gave a few preliminary flaps, but didn’t even have the energy to fly away. She did manage to stand at her feet, shake her head to clear it, and looked attentively at the Prince. “I apologize for my behavior,” Prince Serpis said, smiling and bowing shortly but graciously at Daring Do. “You must understand situations are a little tense here.” “That’s quite alright,” Daring said as she stood up. “I… I understand being suspicious when an unfamiliar face comes around.” “Let me assure you our fair city is far kinder normally, and we are usually accepting of newcomers here. But tensions outside have risen, and so my questioning was necessary.” “Ah, yes. That was… that was unlike any questioning I’ve ever had before. Do you mind me asking what that was? What happened to me, that is?” “Not at all! I simply placed you into a mild trance to make sure you told the truth and were not a spy.” “Impressive,” Daring Do said. “I’ve never known of a pony able to do that before, particularly as skillfully as you did.” “That is one of the lamia’s special powers,” Prince Serpis said proudly. “All lamias can do it, though their methods may vary.” “Well, you’ll have to remind me to come back at some point,” Daring Do said, trying to sound conversational. “Color me intrigued.” “Well, why not relax and spend a few days here?” Prince Serpis waved a hoof. “Your request and your journey were benign enough. Stay with us for a while and learn about us. I shall enlist the help of my archivist help you search for this statue. Perhaps, as descendants of the natives, we may have more information for you.” Daring managed to chuckle. Perhaps the Prince was suspicious of visitors, and rightly so given the strange looks would attract quite a few visitors (and not all of them friendly). But now, other than giving off the feeling of being somewhat haughty, he seemed okay. “Alright. If you’re okay with it, I shall.” “But of course.” At that time, Daring heard the double doors of the audience chamber open up behind her. “Ah, Dreamweaver, perfect timing. I need you to do a favor for me.” Daring turned around and saw the orange-and-purple-scaled lamia from earlier slither quickly and gracefully up next to her. He rose up on his scales a little bit, and then did an elaborate bow so that nearly his whole pony torso was bent over. “I am at your service, My Prince.” “I’m afraid I must reschedule our meeting, perhaps for later tonight. For now, I have a new request for you.” He waved to Daring. “This is Daring Do. She is an archaeologist in search of a statue of Quetzalcoatl. I need you, if you have room, to take her to your house and shelter her for a few days.” “Of course, my Prince,” the lamia said, bowing as before. “Ms. Do,” Prince Serpis said. Once he was sure he had Daring’s full attention, he spoke again. “You must understand that, while I do want to help you, you staying here for a few days is also a matter of security. We occasionally experience raids from Tegucigallopa, where you came from, and it is feared they will attack soon. But remain calm; our citadel is a veritable stronghold and you shall come to no harm here.” “Of course.” Daring quickly realized she would have to be on her best behavior; she still remembered the Prince’s more seething and tense moments and did not want to experience them again. “I do not wish to disturb or inconvenience you.” “Nonsense! Your presence here is welcomed. Now, go with Dreamweaver, and he shall acquaint you with our fine people.” Daring Do nodded and turned around, following the orange-and-purple lamia out of the audience chamber. A few days in this place wouldn’t be too bad. She would find out as much information as she could, go on her way, obtain the statue of Quetzalcoatl, and be home in a few days. The question would be of how much to tell Aguas Azules and Ravenhoof when she returned.